Emmer says recent terror attacks expose flaws in US law, pushes SCAM Act

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said a series of recent terrorist attacks by naturalized citizens exposes serious flaws in U.S. immigration law, arguing that it is “more imperative than ever” to pass the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation (SCAM) Act to allow the government to remove “terrorists who hate America” ​​from the country.

First introduced by Emmer in January, the SCAM Act would expand the U.S. government’s ability to revoke the citizenship of naturalized citizens found guilty of involvement in terrorism, fraud or espionage. The Senate version of the bill was introduced by Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.

“This needs to be fixed,” Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota, told Fox News Digital.

“If you’re going to take advantage of the generosity of Americans, or if you’re going to associate with known terrorist organizations or commit aggravated crimes or terrorist attacks, even if you attempt them, it doesn’t matter; don’t play any more games,” Emmer said. “You should be denaturalized and sent back to wherever you came from.”

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House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, Republican of Minnesota, during a television interview at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, U.S., Tuesday, September 30, 2025. Emmer introduced a bill that would denaturalize convicted fraudsters and terrorists of their U.S. citizenship. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

He lamented that under current law, “the standards for denaturalizing someone are just too high,” but noted that “we have a solution to fix it.”

The bill, currently sitting in the House Judiciary Committee, allows prosecutors to use crimes committed after naturalization as evidence that an individual falsely claimed good moral character during the citizenship process, thereby arguing that their citizenship was invalid to begin with.

The SCAM Act already has nearly 50 House co-sponsors, according to Emmer. Once the vote is scheduled, he believes the issue will not pass and may even receive some bipartisan support from Democrats, recognizing the seriousness of the issue.

“It’s really simple,” he said. “The message is that terrorists have no place on American soil, whether they are naturalized or not.”

SERIES OF ATTACKS RELATED TO NATURAL CITIZENS RAISES NATIONAL SECURITY QUESTIONS

From left to right from top: Ndiaga Diagne, Ayman Mohamad, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi. Background: Temple Israel synagogue in Michigan, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (Austin Police Department; obtained by NYPost; obtained by WTVR; Madison Swart/Reuters; WJBK)

In early March, naturalized Senegalese citizen Ndiaga Diagne was killed by police after allegedly killing three people and injuring more than a dozen in a shooting in Austin, police said.

Shortly after, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, the children of naturalized Turkish and Afghan citizens, allegedly pledged support for ISIS and attempted to bomb an anti-Islam protest outside the New York City mayor’s mansion, according to police. They were charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS, attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, and multiple explosives-related offenses, including transporting, receiving, and possessing destructive devices.

Then, on March 12, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Lebanon, allegedly tried to ram his vehicle into a Michigan synagogue filled with children and teachers, authorities said.

The same day, at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a naturalized citizen of Sierra Leone, allegedly opened fire on a class of Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) students, killing Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, according to police. He was also killed on the spot.

“Clearly, something is not working in our immigration system,” Emmer said, adding that terrorists “continue to enter our country and they are allowed to stay here to the detriment of Americans and their lives.”

“We cannot continue like this,” he continued, emphasizing: “It is more imperative than ever to move these things forward.”

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Rep. Tom Emmer, R-MN., speaks during the Republican National Convention, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Despite this, Emmer faced some opposition in Minnesota due to his tough stance.

Local newspaper MPRNews reported that a community activist leader in his district, Abdikadir Bashir, executive director of the nonprofit Center for African Immigrants and Refugees Organizing, accused Emmer of “trying to erase us politically.”

“The moment citizenship becomes conditional on whether a politician finds us convenient, none of us are safe,” Bashir said, according to the media outlet. “Today it could be Somali Americans. Tomorrow it could be another ethnic group.”

Although he declined to hazard an estimate of when the bill might pass, he said “sooner rather than later would be my plea.”

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“We have an immigration system that does not require these people to declare their allegiance to the United States of America and their desire to be Americans,” he said.

“We want anyone, from anywhere, to come here to pursue their American dream and become an American…we want you,” he concluded. “If you come here and you don’t intend to become an American, but you intend to change America or destroy America, you have to deal with it.”